TLDR
- It aims to simplify onboarding to cryptocurrency wallets by eliminating recovery phrases and allowing wallet creation with biometrics like Face ID or fingerprint.
- It enables gasless transactions by allowing developers to sponsor users’ gas fees through “paymaster” integrations.
- Users can access their Coinbase exchange balances directly from the Smart Wallet, avoiding insufficient balance errors.
- The Smart Wallet supports cross-app portability, allowing users to access thousands of dApps with a single wallet identity.
- Coinbase is incentivizing developers to integrate the Smart Wallet into their apps through gas credits and contests.
Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, has launched its highly anticipated Smart Wallet.
This new wallet aims to revolutionize the user experience for accessing decentralized applications (dApps) and engaging with blockchain-based services.
One of the primary goals of the Smart Wallet is to simplify the onboarding process for new users. Historically, setting up a cryptocurrency wallet has been a complex task, often requiring users to write down and securely store a long recovery phrase.
The Smart Wallet eliminates this step, allowing users to create a wallet in seconds using biometric authentication methods like Face ID, fingerprint, or a Google Chrome profile.
With Coinbase smart wallets, onboarding is now as effortless as signing into your favorite website.
⤷ Gasless transactions
⤷ Cross-app portability
⤷ Coinbase balance support
⤷ Passkeys instead of seed phraseshttps://t.co/owx7vY5Oyx pic.twitter.com/n0S5iGjM1S— Coinbase Wallet 🛡️ (@CoinbaseWallet) June 5, 2024
Another significant advantage of the Smart Wallet is its ability to facilitate gasless transactions. Developers can choose to integrate “paymaster” functionality, which allows them to sponsor the gas fees (transaction fees) on behalf of their users.
This feature could significantly reduce barriers to entry, as users no longer need to purchase cryptocurrency upfront to pay for gas fees.
The Smart Wallet also addresses a common pain point for users: insufficient balance errors. By seamlessly integrating with Coinbase’s exchange, users can access their Coinbase account balances directly from the Smart Wallet.
This means they can use their existing cryptocurrency holdings to interact with dApps without having to transfer funds between separate wallets and accounts.
Cross-app portability is another notable feature of the Smart Wallet. Users can take their wallet identity and balances with them as they navigate between different dApps and platforms.
This eliminates the need to manage multiple wallets and identities, streamlining the overall user experience.
At launch, the Smart Wallet supports eight major blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB, and Zora. Coinbase has stated its intention to add support for more networks in the future.
To encourage adoption, Coinbase is offering incentives to developers who integrate the Smart Wallet into their applications.
These incentives include gas credits worth up to $15,000 through the Base Gasless Campaign and the opportunity to win Ethereum (ETH) prizes in the Base Buildathon contest.
